This invention relates generally to laser mirrors, and, more particularly to a flow attenuator capable of being used with a liquid cooled mirror in an optical system such as a laser system.
The development of the laser has created a new area of technology which finds application in many systems already in existence today. For example, lasers can be found in the areas of optical communications, holography, medicine, cutting, calculating and in radar. The utilization of the laser in such areas in many instances depends upon the amplification of the existing laser radiation. In order to accomplish such an increase in laser power, it is necessary for the mirrors associated therewith to be cooled in order to accommodate the power.
In certain areas, such as an optical communication or optical radar, it is necessary to greatly amplify the initial radiation power produced by the laser. In many instances, such an amplification proved to be highly impractical since the existing mirrors for high power lasers were insufficiently cooled. Since the optical figure of the mirror must be maintained, highly specialized structures are necessary to combine efficient cooling with stable support of the reflecting surface.
An effective laser mirror cooling system has been characterized by the utilization of liquid cooled laser mirrors. Generally, the the liquid coolant for the laser mirrors is water which is distributed from a tank through a control valve, distribution fitting, and orifice to control pressure and flow. Unfortunately, siginificant mirror jitter has been attributed to "noise" in the water supply system, and particularly to flow vibration induced by conventional distribution and orifice methods. The water flow induced jitter not only acts directly on each individual optical element of the laser system, but even more significantly the resonant response of individual optical elements of the system transmits significant bench-borne vibration to other optical elements of the system. Consequently, it is of utmost importance in high power laser systems, in particular, to prevent such water flow induced jitter from detracting from the overall efficiency of the laser system.